South Korea confirmed 23 more cases of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus, the country's health ministry said on Monday (Jun 8), bringing the total to 87 in the country of the often-deadly illness.

Seventeen of the new cases came from the same Seoul hospital emergency room where the country's first patient remained before being confirmed MERS-positive, the ministry said.

Officials from the city of Daejeon also said an 80-year-old South Korean man who had tested positive for MERS has died, taking the number of deaths from the outbreak to six.

The man had been suffering from pneumonia when he was confirmed to have contracted the virus from another patient at a hospital, officials said.

First identified in humans in 2012, MERS is caused by a coronavirus from the same family as the one that triggered Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS. But MERS has a much higher death rate at 38 percent, according to World Health Organization figures.

Dear Editor

Let's stop the blame game. The fact is that no one would have guessed that mother nature would takeaway the lives of these young students and their teacher and guide so cruelly. I don't understand why netizens are trying to pin the blame of the Education Minister and guilt-tripping the school principal.

The school has been organising such trips for 7 years with no accidents and the students have benefited immensely from the experience. But netizens did not praise them for a job well-done.

For those who harped on the fact that they were too young to climb Mount K, so if tragedy was to struck secondary school students, what would you say?? Would you find another excuse? Because the earthquake would have killed 12 years old and 16 years old all the same.

If everything bad and unfortunate happen, and we start the blame game and putting up knee-jerk rules and regulations, then our children will never learn to overcome the odds.

Many of us watched the movie 127 Hours, a true story of mountaineer Aron Ralston, who had to amputate his own forearm after being trapped between boulders for five days, and rappelled himself to safety. After the accident, he continued to climb mountains frequently with his prosthetic arm. While we may enjoy the movie, but giving up and giving in can be too easy when tragedy strucks.

I suggest that the TKPS staff, especially the principal, lead the students who did not manage to conquer Mount K this June to go back there and climb to the summit,. And when you guys are on top, to hold a minute of silence for your fallen friends and colleagues, and be stronger for what life has made you gone through.

Seng Khiang

The Housing Development Board has launched a new wave of mobile enforcement vehicles, which are designed to patrol car parks in the many HDB estates throughout Singapore to weed out errant motorists who take up season parking lots without valid parking passes.

The new initiative is intended to reduce enforcement agencies' reliance on manpower, and enforcement officers have already been spotted making their rounds in car parks in their new vehicle.

In recent weeks, many netizens had sent images of a three wheel motorcycle bearing the Certis Cisco insignia with the words "Mobile Enforcement Vehicle" imprinted on a large device attached to the back of the vehicle.

2 female Canadian tourists, 23 year-old Lindsey Peterson and 22 year-old Danielle Peterson, were arrested and prevented from leaving Malaysia after they were identified as being part of a group of tourists who stripped themselves nude and took pictures of themselves as a sacred site on Mount Kinabalu, Sabah.

Malaysian police reported that on 30th May, the two women were part of a group of 10 tourists who stripped off their clothes and posed naked at the 8KM point of a 2 day hiking trip up the mountain, which locals say is a sacred site protected by their local deity. The tourists ignored the pleas of their local guide to stop, and openly insulted the guide for trying to stop them.

3 other tourists were identified as Dutch citizens Eleanor Hawrins and Dylan Thomas, and German citizen Stephan Pohlner. The other 5 tourists have not been identified.

Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan has openly accused the tourists' disrespectful actions for being the cause of Friday's 6.0 magnitude earthquake at the mountain. He said that they had "showed disrespect to the sacred mountain" and that the earthquake was a "confirmation" of the consequences of their actions. He has called on the culprits to be charged in the Malaysian courts.

"Whether other people believe this or not, it's what we Sabahans believe. When the earthquake happened, it's like a confirmation of our beliefs," he said. "It is a sacred mountain and you cannot take it lightly."

Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Nicolas Doire told thestar.com news website that they were aware of the incident, and the embassy in Malaysia would provide assistance to the duo.

I'm frankly getting quite p*ssed off with the level of dumbassery in Malaysia because of this whole "naked-on-the-mountain" fiasco.

They're saying because some foreigners ran around on top of the mountain without their underwear on, the spirit of the mountain got angry and retaliated by causing a f**king massive earthquake. A bunch of dudes and kids died, and so now they're saying that the big bad white tourists should be held responsible.

Spirit of the mountain? Are you serious? So are the locals like Pocahontas or something?

I don't know about you, but I learnt in grade school that earthquakes aren't caused by people running around with their jingly bits hanging out.

For crying out loud, I don't think I can understand a word of that bullsh*t the Malaysian government is saying. But then again, I can't really understand anything the locals are saying anyway. They sound like they're chewing on a burger or trying to fart with their mouths half the time they're talking to us.

I guess I'm just cheesed off that it's always gotta be the white dude's fault when bad sh*t happens. F**k that shit all right? Colonialism has been over since the nineteen f**king sixties. Remember the hippie movement? Vietnam? Yes, that sh*t got thousands of young Americans killed when they tried to liberate you f**king Asians from yourselves and commie Russia.

Kawinski

Recently, the government has warned Singaporeans against taking up degrees for the sake of getting "a piece of paper". The reason is because they expect that there will be more and more highly educated but lowly paid people in Singapore.

Why?

Two main reasons:

1. Sinkies suffer from misunderstanding of cause and effect. The older generation saw that highly educated people reached high office and made a lot of money, so they thought that going to university leads to a better life.

But they were misled.

Actually, it was the opposite! A better life leads to university education!

In the 1950s, only the rich and privileged in SG could send their children to university, so whether they can study or not is not the cause of their wealth. A rich kid who inherits his daddy's fortune and/or connections will still be rich no matter he has a degree or not.

2. In addition, in the 1950s just having a degree cert represents a prestigious unique selling point at an era when most people don't even have 'O' Levels, which is why degree holders quickly promoted into leadership positions and made a lot of money.

Today, degree holders are everywhere, not only within SG but all around the world. Many job openings are greeted by hundreds of resumes... how is your qualification any better than all the other candidates?

The harsh truth is that a degree in 1955 is a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE from a degree in 2015... yes, even a law degree from the same prestigious UK university...

So who do you think will make more money? A person who is highly educated or a person who has the right connections and most relevant experience?

According to the Housing Development Board, despite the multitude of complaints about new BTO flats, they only received about one reported defect per unit in recent years.

Most of the flaws are surface imperfections like scratches on the flooring, hairline cracks or uneven tile joints and these are due to the features of natural materials or errors in manual labour.

The HDB spokesperson added that these defects are easily rectified and do not affected the safety and structural integrity of the flat.

She stressed that these defects do not affect the structural integrity of the building and can be rectified easily.

She also added that timber mock-ups and sample units were built before mass construction to identify and resolve various issues and auditors together with inspection teams comb the flats for aesthetic defects. Flaws that are spotted will be relayed to contractors for rectifications before flats are handed to the home buyers.

Auditors and inspection teams also comb the flats for defects such as hollow tiles, uneven walls and wall cracks.

Spotted flaws are relayed to contractors for rectification before the flats are handed over to home owners.

Home owners have a one-year defect liability period after collecting their keys to get defects rectified by the building contractor.

I noticed that Sing First is hosting a public forum titled, “Can Singapore succeed without PAP?” this coming Saturday at a posh hotel.

First thing is, I cannot help ask myself - is Singapore considered successful in the first place? Do you not see old folks selling tissue paper at hawker centres? Do you not see old folks pumping oil at petrol kiosks? Do you not see old folks collecting cardboard? Why can’t Singaporeans retire with dignity? Is this what a successful country should look like?

Despite the economic success that PAP boasts, has EVERYONE benefited from this? Remember the PAP government is one in the first world country that has the least social spending!! Do you think the governments of other countries are stupid? NO!! Because as a representative of the government, your sole responsibility is towards your constituents!! Do something that does not benefit them, you will see yourself voted out of the office come next term!!

That is not the case with Singapore. With the diabolical GRC in hand, PAP has been the dominant power in Singapore politics. There have been so many walkovers that many of us are “virgin voters” even after we have turned 40!! This is no laughing matter as the PAP has stripped us of our birth right in a truly democratic society!!

FIFTY years of unquestioned authority can be disastrous for any country, let alone a small little dot like ours. I remember when Cao Cao was young, he was a righteous man. He even attempted to assassinate the notorious warlord Dong Zhuo. But in the end, what happened to Cao Cao? After years of in power, he is now commonly known as a traitor of the Han Dynasty.

The founding fathers of our great nation did wonders too. But, slowly as one after another exited the parliament, the PAP became obsessed with running Singapore like a business. Previously the debates in the Parliament were lively as EVERYONE fought for the good of the country. Nowadays, we have MPs frequently skipping the sessions because they are too busy with their own 1001 businesses. Even when they are there, they have been photographed napping during the sessions!! Such is the drop in the standard of PAP MPs, yet this has never been reported in any mainstream media.

I have to admit the PAP are excellent businessmen. Everything they touched turned to gold. Your COEs, ERPs generated hundreds of millions for them. Then, there is the GIC and TH which have been managing our money. Personally, I have no qualms about managing my money for me if the ANY of the following condition can be met:
1. the returns from the investment are shared 50-50. This is obviously not the case here when the returns on our CPF is not even 4.5%!!
2. more than 50% of the returns from these investments are used to fund social spending. You don't pass on the profit to me, but at least you spend it by building hospitals or retirement villages - this has not happened too.
3. can be given back to me without ANY restriction. Why do you implement Minimum Sum, increasing the Sum and age of withdrawal from time to time??

Personally, I think it is okay if the PAP does not love us or want to take care of us properly. I am the type of guy who believes that, “Give a man a fish and you feed him a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” I do not want to rely on this government as long as I can take care of myself. Problem here is not only does the PAP not love us, it constantly sabotages us!!

Look at the number of foreigners that have taken over our jobs!! Even those with degrees from degree mills can now work for the government!! And what is the deal with granting so many KTV hostesses and masseurs becoming Singapore PR?! Not only do we have difficulty finding work, our families may be ruined with so many potential “home-wreckers”!! Now there is even talk of providing driver-less taxis. That is another 40,000 cab drivers, or sole breadwinners who will be out on the streets!!

Not only that, every year hundreds of millions are given to foreign students as scholarships!! But, look at the students that we wind up with. Alvin Tan – an ex-Law undergraduate turned porn star. Ouyang Xiangyu – an ex-Stanford student expelled for poisoning her laboratory mates. We are considered the “ROBERT” by many students overseas. My question is, why waste these millions when these students have never once proven their loyalty? More importantly, they have absolutely embarrassed our country!!

Enough said, though I can still ramble on for a few nights. Bottom line is PAP members are at best great businessmen. But, Singapore is a country with human beings. Until the PAP realizes that managing flesh and blood is very different from running a business, they will never change. Even the recent flip-flop by the newly-appointed Manpower minister saying that foreigners’ curb is here to stay is an election ploy.

Remember 2011? The year when we gotten New Singapore Shares? After winning the election, the PAP government raised the GST to 7%. So, if we buy into this con, who dares to say that PAP will not continue to take in more foreigners after the election?

Unless you set target to reduce the number of foreigners here, there is no way PAP has the resolve to solve our unemployment problem. Has anyone noticed that PAP always play with the quota ratio rather than putting up actual decreasing numbers of foreigners working here? This is because the ratio not only takes into consideration SINGAPOREANS, it also considers SINGAPORE PR. So, effectively though the ratio may seemed to be supporting a decrease in the number of foreign workers, the truth is far from that. Because once the government grants more PR out, the companies can hire more foreign workers!! SO, do not buy into the lie that number of foreign workers will drop!!

As a citizen, what I want to see is actual number of foreign workers falling here. Say we have 1.5 million foreign workers now. There should be a 5% reduction in this figure every year. Also, the foreign workers' levy should be treated like COEs too. The number of foreigners here is almost the same number as the number of cars here. If you bid for COE, why shouldn’t you bid for foreign workers too? If the levy is too high for you to bid, then hire local staff!!

In conclusion, our situation now is already so dire, do you think it will get worse? I look at the members of the Singaporeans First party. These are old RI boys well into their 60s. They have led a successful life and can now retire comfortably. Why then do they want to come out and “wrestle” with the PAP? Simply put, they are doing this for the future of their grandchildren.

A lot of PAP supporters say if we are not happy with PAP policies, we should leave this country. I always reply, "why should millions of us leave when it is easier to get the 80 of them to go?!" So, instead of asking why we should vote opposition into the parliament, I think the more appropriate question to ask is why continue to allow PAP to do whatever they want in the Parliament?! For the sake of your children or grandchildren, it is time to bid the PAP good bye like how we bid goodbye to LKY.

Professor MC

Negotiations are underway without prejudice ie. we agree not to divulge our meetings until we come to agreement. So I am not saying anything till further discussions come to some agreement. Meanwhile I wish to just to set the records straight for accuracy.

1) the work is entitled "Ping-Pong Go Round" please try not to give it other names as it becomes confused. Chinese name is 乒乓成圆.

2) iPreciation represented my works in a solo exhibition in Art Basel Hong Kong 2014 and the work "Ping-Pong Go Round" was part of the special section "Encounters" curated by Yuko Hasegawa.
http://sea.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/902300/yuko-hasegawa-on-the-inau...

3) After returning from Hong Kong this model being quite different as it was made from actual Ping-Pong Tables were pitched to the museums as well as the relevant Ministry and Sports hub. Subsequenty it was collected by a private collector. Now its is exhibiting in The Prudential Singapore Eye at the Art Science Museum.
http://www.singaporeeye.com/

4) if you look at my website I have listed out the 3 different modes of production.
http://leewen.republicofdaydreams.com/ping-pong-go-round.ht…As far as I m concerned my work as an artist is with belief and interest of making art work yes work for society in a way to elevate consciousness, not just about refinement of taste but hopefully make us go a step beyond creatures of mere survival of the fittest if not of power and capital wealth. At the most top priority to me is integrity and service to humanity.

I am more saddened sometimes to read the responses of those legal eagles who don't know much about art and yet making comments like an expert and putting me down as having a simple concept anyone can do hence there is no infringement of copy-rights. It is to my mind a damaging remarks and to read them in our main newspapers just reminded me of some ugly historical pass how our press gave such one-sided reports. Why do they quote two lawyers against my work and not consult the cultural experts or those lawyers advocating intellectual rights? I wonder often if our press has other interests than reporting the real and factual or not?

I ask myself only this question, does this society care for art and artists? I feel it is still a society that put us at the bottom of the stack. Now that the ministry in government holds the portfolio combining both sports and arts this incident seem to indicate we are below even that of sports. Please do not osstracize us again. I am trying to be happy and learn to respect living here although my heart is in Japan. I do love this country but I keep being reminded of the lack of care and an attitude of negligence to art in the early years of economic priorities even today.

In the experiences whenever artists work beyond that of material gain and selfish fame and making works of idealistic intentions of offering art for the public at large, and in this case approaching sports to a philosophical revision of rules of the game. Not that it is my claim only but we are dedicated pacifist soldiers of play and seriously we lack in getting paid what we deserve not only because of history but the perpetuation of suspicion that art and artists are confidence tricksters instead of conceptual philosophers. If we do not turn around fast to real care and respect for art and artists here at home, why bother about Venice?

Posters written by a married woman warning a man that his wife has been having an affair with the woman's husband were found in void decks in Tampines. The posters, which carried the photo of the alleged 'homebreaker', were trying to tell the man that his wife has been cheating on him for the past 9 years.

Shin Min news reported that such posters have been appearing at the void decks of blocks 878 to 880, Tampines Ave 8, for the past two weeks. The posters were in English and Chinese along with a photo of a woman in sporting attire.

Residents said that the posters at block 880 have been torn down, leaving only the photo of the alleged 'homebreaker'. It is unclear who had put up the posters and photos.

The poster addressed one 'Mr Lee' and is written by an anonymous married woman. The woman said that her husband is having an affair with the wife of Mr Lee and this has been going on for 9 years.

"I discovered the shameful affair about 2 years ago, my husband and I have quarreled, fought and I really feel like giving up this marriage, but my husband told me it is your wife that doesn't want to let go and continues to pester him," the poster wrote.

The author claimed that she will call the 'homebreaker' every three months to plead with her to leave her husband, but the 'homebreaker' was unwilling saying that he was a nice man with no temper.

The author also said that the 'homebreaker' would fetch her husband to his workplace every morning and they would have lunch together. There was even once when their maid chanced upon the 'homebreaker' and the husband in Geylang.

There was once when the author went to the 'homebreaker's' office to talk things through, but she found out that the entire office already knew that 'homebreaker' has another boyfriend besides 'Mr Lee'. The author also went to the Lee residence, but only the daughter was at home, and the daughter said her mother only loved to dance.

When the author confronted the 'homebreaker', she was told by the 'homebreaker' that they shouldn't fight over a man and that they should be good friends. She said that the husband of the author was penniless and that she was giving money to him.

The author urged Mr Lee to rein in his wife and to stop bothering her husband. She said both the families have children and she doesn't wish the children to grow up without a father or mother.

It's a sad day for many Singaporeans who are in one way or another connected to the victims of the Mount Kinabalu earthquake. My deepest condolences go out to those who have lost a child or a loved one. As a parent, I can't even begin to fathom how painful this must be. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your families.

It's a sad day for many in the teaching profession who have had their professionalism questioned by keyboard warriors who suggest that teachers plan such trips as "free holidays" for themselves. My wife is a teacher. I have many friends who are teachers. I was once a teacher myself, maybe not an outstanding one, but I would like to think of myself as being at least a responsible teacher. I have witnessed, and personally been on, many school trips in my 13 years as a teacher. CIP, immersion, CCA, sometimes up to 3 trips a year. I've never had to pay a cent, aside from my own expenditure.

You could say I went on free trips. But please get this clear. It was NEVER a holiday. The planning, the coordination, the endless administrative tasks, the briefings/meetings with students, parents, travel agencies. And that's just the pre-trip preparations. I have been in charge of groups upwards of 80 students and I felt personally responsible for their well-being every moment of the trip. I will never forget the terror I felt when I was faced with a student screaming and writhing in pain, clutching at his ear at 1am in the morning. Or when a softball hit high in the air landed squarely on my student's forehead. Or when half the group of students went down with upset stomachs in India. In my moment of madness, I even took 9 students to Tioman on a scuba diving certification course! When you are responsible for the lives of 80 odd children and answerable to their parents, trust me, the terror is very real. I'm sure teachers out there have shared such moments.

You may ask, why do teachers do this then? If I may answer this question on their behalf, teachers do this because they want their students to learn lessons that can never be replicated in the classroom. Teachers do this over and over again because they see the learning happening right before their eyes. Students seem to develop, grow, mature overnight. That is the power of experiential learning. Many of life's lessons can be well learnt over the duration of a short overseas trip. Social interaction, personal responsibility, leadership are but a few of the many life lessons that are more effectively learnt when experienced rather than taught. Believe me when I say this, but teachers who put themselves through these overseas trips care about your children more than they care about themselves. They put themselves out there so that your child learns more than just how to do well in pen-and-paper tests.

I may not be a teacher anymore but I have the deepest respect for teachers. They do a thankless job with an ever-expanding job scope. Academics, leadership, character development, sports, values, values-in-action. Before you fire off a response to make negative comments about teachers, please find out more about what teachers do. And ask yourself if you are up for the challenge. Because the people who decided to become teachers, decided that they wanted the responsibility of moulding your child's future. They wanted the responsibility of developing the future generations of Singaporeans. They put the future of Singapore on their shoulders. There are many great leaders in the world who led great lives and achieved great things. And I'm sure somewhere along the way, they had a great teacher.

To my friends in the teaching profession, please keep your heads up. Don't let the keyboard warriors shake you. Keep doing the good that you do. You and I know you won't see the results of your good work tomorrow but your day will come if you keep plugging away long enough. Thank you for all that you do for generations of students.

Hi all

Starting off i would like to say i have had good friends who are malay and indian. I am not racist and I do appreciate racial harmony. I am keen to be friends and be a peace with people of all races. However, i really cannot stand some food stalls operated by some people of Malay and Indian ethnicity.

Today i bought 5 pieces of prata take away for a friend and myself, yet upon opening the packet,i found out that they miss out on 1 prata. Thats means i paid for 4 pieces for the price of 5.

Previous times i was served pathetic small portions of mee siam, mee soto, mee rubus and nasi lemak by some malay foodstalls as well. Sometimes was charged MORE $$ for the same portion that fellow malay patrons are getting.

Mee goreng and nasi briyani, as a chinese customer i was given smaller portions..

These happens only half the time when i purchase from their stalls. I do meet a handful who are honest and ethical food sellers. Just feel so upset!!

Simply feel like boycotting all non chinese foodstalls already!!! F**k them

Annoyed Netizen

Dear Editors,

I saw 2 birds eating the feed and one mynah bird suddenly collapsed on floor . As I went near, I found dead pigeons not far away. .

So many animal lives been poisoned and I picked up some of the nearby dead bird and placed them in a carton box. But some are lying too far away.

I found the poison feed that lead to these bird's death. Am unsure if this is done by Town Coucil or by the residents. Feeling sick and feeling sucks. What a lousy day.

Message to all. Please don't feed birds, once population grew big, culling is the only solution and it is cruel. Let them search for own food and slow down population growth

Nanny
A.S.S. Contributor

Instant noodles made by the Maggi brand in India are "safe", according to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA). The AVA announced their findings on tests conducted on the India-made noodles today.

Last week, India's food safety regulator announced that Maggi instant noodles were "unsafe and hazardous" for human consumption after they found excessive lead and MSG levels in the noodles.

AVA had asked importers and retailers to put their Maggi stocks on hold last week while the AVA conducted lab tests to ascertain that Maggi noodles here were safe for consumption.

According to the AVA, Singapore does not import Maggi brand oat products produced in India.

AVA claims that it regularly samples imported food products, including Maggi instant noodles and oat products.

"Our sampling tests cover a wide range of hazards known to be associated with food. Food products that fail our tests will not be allowed for sale," an AVA spokesman said.

My toilet is under hdb upgrading at teban gardens, so the town council called up my mum cos they need to realign a pipe in the kitchen leading into the toilet.

They recommend this PRC contractor to take down the cabinet.

The task includes some unscrewing and one man job.

1st day he came and spent about half an hour taking it down. on the last day he came n put back, after that the PRC man ask my parents for $400.

WTF. $400 to take down and put back after the pipe is done. is this serious overcharging or cheating? no new materials was used or any hacking was done.

just take down and put back cost $400? better i buy a fking new one?

Call the PRC main company they didn't bother about me. the cb thing is he said he do for many households in the block for around the same price

Tomorrow i intend to call the town council office see what they say. they should go to every household n ask how much that PRC is overcharging those old folks like my parents

edit: forgot to add .he offered to cover up those exposed white pipe in the kitchen and also in the toilet for $3000+

According to TKPS pupil Emyr, one of his teachers, Mohamed Faizal, who is recovering from his injuries used his body to shield three of the pupils from falling rocks and boulders on Mount Kinabalu during the earthquake.

The other teachers on trip include Mr Terrence Loo, who was among those who perished, and Mr Mohammad Ghazi, who is still missing.

Emyr's father, Mr Sadri paid tribute to the teachers for their selfless acts. He said: "They went two or three miles, helping them, shielding them, taking the hits, even with a broken skull and bones, they still brought them down 7 kilometres in blocked paths."

Mr Sadri added that to him and most of the parents he talked to, they owed it to the teachers.

Sadri also revealed that for the late Mr Terrence, he helped a bunch of students before going up for others. This was also the case for the missing Mr Ghazi who helped some of the kids and went back up again. Sadri said that both Mr Terrence and Mr Ghazi are the real heroes.

All the students said they are very nice teachers. They would stay behind after school hours and work about 13 hours a day for the children and loved their job.

Sabah State Education director Datuk Jame Alip says that the state is considering only restricting children under 15 from climbing Mount Kinabalu. This comes after the tragic death of 6 children in the 5th June earthquake which claimed 16 lives.

Jame says that he has spoken about this matter to Malaysian Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.

“We will bring it up in our next meeting. For me, 15 years seems like a more reasonable age,” Jame said.

Jame says he was surprised about the death of the students because he did not know about the school trip up the mountain.

Jame added, “We were not told about it. The slopes are steep and dangerous. I would not encourage children below 15 to climb the mountain.”

He recalled his experience of trekking up the mountain when he was 20 years old and said that even then, it was a challenge.

“I cannot imagine how it would be like for young students.”

The official Mount Kinabalu website states that climbers should be at least 10 years old.

Jame also suggested that the Education Ministry in Malaysia institute earthquake drills for students nationwide.

“Students are generally taught that in an emergency situation, they should drop everything and run down the fire escape. But that only applies during fires. When an earthquake strikes, you do the opposite — you drop to the ground, take cover and hold on. The children must know this.”

Malaysian bloggers have also weighed in on the tragedy, including one blogger who claims to be a 50 year-old mountaineering veteran.

“Right now, the official Mount Kinabalu website cheerily gives the impression that anyone between 10 and 80 who is reasonably fit, can make the climb. That is inaccurate and dangerous information.”

He said a disturbing question was whether Tanjong Katong Primary School authorities did adequate research on the climb before deciding to take the schoolchildren up the mountain.

“Or did they like many others, accept information off the official website?”

Dear Editors,

We now hear from the parents that the teachers and guides on Mountain Kinabalu were the true heroes. Despite their injuries and without regard for their own safety, they used their bodies to shield those children under their care. This is heroism of the highest order and sadly some have paid the ultimate price. The least we can do for those teachers and the guide should be to award them with Pingat Keberanian posthumously.

"The Pingat Keberanian (Medal of Valour), instituted in 1987, is a Singaporean decoration awarded to any person who has performed an act of courage and gallantry in circumstances of personal danger."

It will be a fitting award for these heroes who did everything they could to protect fellow Singaporeans. We salute them.

These teachers should be honoured and remembered for their selfless acts so that our younger generation may learn what it truly takes to be a great teacher - not just in school but in life.

Josie Lam
A.S.S. Contributor

Facebook user Suzanne G L Tan posted a picture on Facebook yesterday and criticized the Road Transport Department of Malaysia (JPJ) of forcing her to wear a sarong in their premises because staff felt that she was indecently dressed.

Putting up pictures of her attire during her visit, she wrote that she was offended because her attire was not considered "indecent". The staff told her that unless she wore the sarong, she would not be served.

"I go dressed like this (picture of her wearing a T-shirt and a skirt just above the knees). Indecent 'meh'?" She wrote.

"So I look like this (referring to her picture wearing the sarong), only to sit in front of a counter window where only top part of my body (is) visible to the officer. I don't know if I should laugh or cry."

Hi

I would like to write in to share and warn the public of a scamming uncle around Chinatown and Clarke Quay area.

On 29 May 2015, after having lunch at Burger King, The Central Clarke Quay outlet, I went on shopping around the mall. I met this uncle just outside Burger King outlet who was quite well-dressed (blue white strips polo tee with berms and sports shoes) looking lost and in anxiety and was wiping his almost bald head with a handkerchief. He approached me and shared with me that he has lost his wallet at the Raffles Medical clinic and walked all the way from Funan mall to The Central Clarke. He waited at Funan mall for the mystery who took his wallet for an hour plus and was hoping someone would return his wallet but no one turned up.

So now he is in need of helping hand to lend him some cash to take a cab to Clementi to collect his PSA uniform and laptop and proceed to Tuas to work. Meanwhile, he needs to go back to Raffles Medical to collect his heart attack medication. He then asked whether I an able to lend him some cash for his transportation, if not he will have to "walk" back to west coast. He then added that his family are all in Malaysia and he has no one to turn to and he will meet me somewhere and return me the sum and if I reject, he rather not borrow the cash from me. As I was rushing back to office and although hesitant, but out of good will, I took out $20 and passed to him.

I told him I only have this much money on me and he added that $20 might not be enough to pay off the cab fare. He then asked me whether I could withdraw from ATM machine and immediately he directed me to DBS ATM machine inside the mall. As I have decided to help him, although guts feeling telling me that this might be a scam, but I went ahead and withdrew $50 for him. He then asked whether I am able to lend him a few hundred dollars to pay off his medical bills and I rejected as I told him I do not have much money to help him. We then exchanged mobile numbers and I took a photo of him and then we parted.

When I reached office, I SMS him to meet him tomorrow to collect back the cash and he responded ok. When Saturday comes, he SMS me, saying that he has to work and can only meet me on Sunday. I replied saying that I can meet him at Clementi MRT control station and he replied ok. When Sunday comes, I received his SMS in the morning, and he said that his son met an accident in Malaysia and he has to be in the hospital in Malaysia to attend to his son. I began to doubt his sincerity and gave him a call. The ringing tone was a Singapore ringing tone, so I questioned him. He told me that he had diverted his phone to his Singapore phone and he will definitely meet me on 2 June 2015 to return me the sum.

By then, it was very clear that this uncle is out to scam money with his sobz story, so I went on to the police station and made a police report. 2 June 2015 came by and true enough, his phone can't be called through and he never respond to my SMS. Although police report made, but police did mentioned that for such cases, it will be treated as civil suit and there is nothing much they could do, unless I get to meet the uncle again.

Just like to send out warnings to kind people out there, if you ever meet people who tells you such stories, be more wary than sorry. Offer to bring the uncle to police station to make a report instead of giving them money.

The uncle gave me his name as Mr Sam Tan Chee Beng and IC number as S1343056F, mobile number is 98866011. Attach please find a picture of the mentioned uncle and also the police report.

Regards
LHT